Do the students really need to spend longer hours in school? Although extending the school day could benefit the country by increasing better trained and more competitive workers, a lot of parents are not happy with this.
Extending the school day might deny older students a chance to earn money working at part-time jobs, but working parents who cannot be home during the after school hours to care for children could save on child care expenses.
With longer school days, teachers may feel less rushed to complete all state and federal teaching standards and have more time for creative projects. Students requiring individual attention could have greater opportunities to receive it. This would benefit low-income students who might not have access to tutoring or private lessons.
A longer school day could make students and teachers alike feel overwhelmed and overworked. Teachers may need to work more on lesson plans during personal time but might appreciate feeling less rushed to finish everything during school hours. Too much stress and over-stimulated younger students might create more disciplinary problems.
While there could be more time for schools to include physical activity into a longer day, high academic expectations may take precedence. Even a quality physical education program might not give children the same degree of physical activity, relaxation and decompression time as free play. Reduced physical activity may cause students to feel more stressed and contribute to weight problems, sometimes related with health problems not usually seen in children, such as high blood pressure, the Mayo Clinic reports.
